NOME, Alaska — Alaska State Troopers and local residents are still searching for Roger Hannon of Koyuk. The 22-year old went missing in blizzard conditions last Thursday while snowmachining between Elim and Koyuk.

“Today, they’ve been dragging in an attempt to locate Mr. Hannon’s remains,” she said. “There’s also a diver on scene. That’s where we’re at — checking the water. Hopefully, we’ll be able to provide his family with some closure and locate his remains.”

Searchers have located Hannon’s snowmachine. Peters said they found it near the edge of the sea ice about two and a half miles east of Elim.

“It was found in the water,” she said. “It appears that Mr. Hannon had been driving and then gone into an open lead in the ice.”

Peters said Troopers will search Wednesday, but she’s not sure how long they’ll continue if neither Hannon nor his remains are found.

While Nome has experienced a relatively warm winter this year – with widespread melting and relatively little snow to speak of – winter in our region is, as you might expect, often the opposite.

Here are two examples.

In 2011, only three years ago, our snow cover – and our exposure to heavy winter storms – was abundant. As we wrote in our March 2011 newsletter, a series of blizzards, strong winds (with wind chills down to -70° F!), and heavy snowfall had battered our region, leaving general manager Ric Schmidt to help clear waist-high snow from the side of KNOM’s facilities (pictured). On one particularly stormy day, Ric and then-volunteer Matthew Smith faced 50-miles-per-hour winds to venture out to our AM transmitter site, a few miles outside Nome, to reactivate a failed heating unit, thus keeping our AM signal on the air.

High snow was the story, also, in our January 2004 Static, which reported snow drifts “as high as second-story windows” and showed a photo (above) of Florence Busch – then business manager, now a member of KNOM’s board of directors – examining a 7-foot drift near her house.

In May 2004, in the last throes of that year’s winter, Nome residents observed an ivu (EE-voo), an unusual buildup of massive chunks of ocean ice, some as large as pickup trucks, at the nearby seacoast. The fractured ice blocks, as seen in the photo below, created a 30-foot-high wall of ice.

You’ll often find KNOM’s dedicated news team – including volunteers Eva DeLappe and Margaret DeMaioribus, pictured – reporting on location in Nome, despite our region’s often-inclement weather. Last month, however, the news was the weather.

As Margaret reported, a shifting wind pattern called Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) has been at least partly to blame for this year’s exceptionally cold spring weather – cold even by Alaskan standards. Margaret’s report came on the heels of a mid-May blizzard that left inches of new snow in its wake.

Through your support, listeners throughout the Alaskan Bush not only received their much-needed weather report – they also learned why the weather wasn’t quite as warm as they expected.

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This article is part of the June 2013 edition of our newsletter, The Nome Static.

The weather is fine for Easter egg hunting today, but at nightfall, a blizzard suddenly kicks up.

The wind blows so hard at KNOM’s transmitter site that it holds the shutters for the exhaust fan closed.

By the time Les Brown and volunteer Michael Warren make it to the building in the maelstrom, waste heat has driven its temperature to ninety-eight degrees. Les jams the louvers open, and the site cools down with no ill effects.

This week, the 1,000-mile 2013 Iditarod Sled Dog Race finishes in Nome. KNOM is broadcasting trail interviews and frequent updates to this world-class event. The race brings many benefits to the people in bush communities along the race route – some quite unexpected.

Several years ago, a young autistic boy who rarely, if ever, uttered a word met Iditarod veteran DeeDee Jonrowe. Seeing one of her dogs, he immediately began to speak, repeating the dog’s name over and over again. With help from the KNOM family, the boy received a therapy dog, spurring incredible benefits in this young man’s life. This miracle brought tears of joy not only to the family, but to everyone who helped. We thank everyone who helps to make these miracles happen!

After three weeks of blizzards and winds, the weather has briefly cleared.

Volunteers John Pfeifer and Tom Busch are belted to the AM tower at the 95-foot level, and eight others on the ground hoist the microwave receive antenna, which the pair install. Weather closes in again, and work can’t resume for two more days.

The AM tower construction is complete. Nome Joint Utilities runs a power line across the tundra to the tower, and it is lighted. It’s finished just in time. Two days later, blizzards shut down Nome for almost three weeks.